Short Story Blog - "The Body"

Plot

Stephan King did a fine job on the sequence of this story's plot. The interest of the reader is sparked by Vern's line, "You guys want to go see a dead body?" (pg. 299) By doing this, King is sure to have the reader's attention throughout the story because now the reader wants to see what a could of young boys will do to see a dead body up close and personal. King has the whole story in chronological order of Gordie's memories because it is essentially a memoir, but throughout the story, Gordie speaks about the present day sometimes too. "Nothing like that could happen in southwestern Maine today; most of the area has become suburbanizied, and the bedroom communities surrounding Portland and Lewistown have spread out like the tentacles of a giant squid." By expressing the plot like this, the reader truly does get the feel of an older man looking back on memories in his life. Lastly, I think it is important how the story ends. Present Gordie tells of how the young boys lived out the rest of their lives. This adds a special closing to this memory.

Point of View

"The Body" is written in the first person point of view of the character Gordon Lachance. Gordon is now older and tells this story that happened in his past. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this point of view. The reader knows that this information is reliable because the person who was actually present at the time is telling the story. Also, the reader gets to see what Gordie is thinking and feeling. These descriptions give the reader a better idea of what the moment was like. "I became acutely aware of all the noises inside me and outside me, like some crazy orchestra tuning up to play. The steady thump of my heart, the blood beat in my ears like a drum being played with brushes, the creak of sinews like the strings of a violin that has been tuned radically upward, the steady hiss of the river..." (pg.358) This point of view also has its disadvantages, because it can make the reader side with Gordie because the reader never gets to understand what the others think and feel, but I think this story did a good job of being fair to all of the characters. Lastly, I feel that the two stories that Gordie tells are an important aspect of the story. It shows Gordie's passion for writing and also shows how the other boys look up to him.

Characterization

I feel that King used both direct and indirect characterization to help the reader get a feel for the characters and their lives. King starts off the story by directly telling the reader of how Teddy got to be the way he was. "Teddy's dad took Teddy over to the big woodstove at the back of the kitchen and shoved the side of Teddy's head down against one of the cast-iron burner plates." (pg. 296) There are also direct lines such as, "He was the dumbest guy we hung around with, I guess, and he was crazy." King has to use direct characterization in the beginning of this story because it is a short story and he has to establish who these kids are and why they act the way they do early in the story for the reader to understand the rest of it. King also uses indirect characterization through the boys' language. From the way they talk, the reader can see how they have been raised and what kinds of things they value. Teddy stands up for his Father by bad-mouthing a man who is calling his father a "looney." This shows that even though his father abused him a countless amount of times, the values of a strong, close family in a small town are still present. (pg. 348)

Setting

This story takes place in 1960 in Castle Rock, Maine. This time period is very important because 1960 was in the middle of things like the Vietnam war. Technology wasn't a key to the world that they were living in. They still relied on radios for getting news. Gordie speaks of how they "all heard about it on the radio." ( Ray Brower's death ) (pg. 299) Also, this story is in the small town of Castle Rock. These were the times when children still played outside instead of playing Xbox. This combination of small town and 1960's gave the boys the ability to camp out without much worry from their parents.

Theme

I think the theme of this story could be represented by the lines on the top of some of the pages of this story, "Fall From Innocence." It is definitely a "coming of age" story. The most important part of the story is not the finding of Brower's body, it is the journey the young boy's take to get to "The Body." It shows how the young boys grow up throughout the story. They take responsibility for themselves and develop into young men by standing up for themselves in two instances. They stood up to Milo Pressman at the Dump and didn't let him get away with sticking his dog on Gordie or bad-mouthing Teddy's father. Then, when they met the older boys' "gang" (including Chris' and Vern's brother), they stood up to them too and scared them off. (It probably helped that Chris had a gun.) "Now you guys get into your cars and bomb on back to Castle Rock. After that I don't care. But you ain't getting him." (pg. 415)

Miss. Brill = Fur

7. What function does Miss Brill's fur serve in the story? What is the meaning of the final sentence?

Miss Brill's and her fur share many characteristics. They both are alone and shoved away from the world. Whether this be in a box or just confined in a room. Then, there is a time when Miss Brill and the fur get enough courage to come of of hiding, brush themselves off, and prepare to present themselves in public. When this happens they find a meaning to their life. The fur "feels wanted" and looks good on the older woman. At the same time, Miss Brill finds a purpose in her life. She feels that she is a part of life's big drama and without her, everyone would notice. Once she hits this climax in the drama she is in, she lets two other characters bring her and her fur down. Miss Brill looked upon this young boy and girl as the wonderful hero and heroine in the story, until she overhears them. They speak of her as a "stupid old thing" and they wonder " Why doesn't she keep her silly old mug at home?" Not only do they criticize her, they speak of her fun in a poor manner too. "It's her fur which is so funny, it's exactly like a fried whiting (fish)." This completely kills Miss Brill's mood. She returns to her home and her dark room as her fur is also returned to its dark box.

The last line says, "But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying." Since Miss Brill and the fur are parallels, I believe that this last line indirectly shows how Miss Brill wept after her Sunday encounter.

Once Upon a Time

This frame story was created because of Nadine's combined thoughts of someone in her house and her hatred of writing a children's story that she didn't want to. It is apparent that she thinks that children's "once upon a time" and "happily ever after" stories aren't even worth writing because real life doesn't happen that way. She tells herself a story to go to bed. This story is what would really happen if a realistic family truly tried to live "happily ever after." I think the theme of this story is that if one tried to live a perfect life with no wrong in it, ironically, much wrong would come from it. To live "happily ever after is to have no worries. This family tries to accomplish this by pretty much incarcerating themselves from the world. The family even resorted to "concentration-camp style" barbed wire to put around their house. I think that is pushing it. This story if full of irony. Just when the family feels secure from all people with no worries, the mother reads a "once upon a time" story with a prince in it to their child. When the child tries to imitate this courageous prince and climb their security wall, he is mauled by the barbed-wire that was supposed to protect their family so well.

Phoenix

I found an article about this story that I thought was quite interesting. Just as the name Tub represented his glutenous character, the name phoenix represents her persevering character. A phoenix is a mythological bird that is said to live 500 or more years, die in flames and rise again from the ashes. Just as the phoenix bird has a cycle of life, death, and rebirth, phoenix takes a dangerous journey through the woods. She falls, gets back up and keeps on toward the goal of getting her grandson's medicine. The phoenix bird and Phoenix Jackson are also alike for other reasons. When both arrive at an obstacle, they persevere through it.

The myth also states that the phoenix bird can heal a person with just a tear from its eyes, and make them temporarily immune to death When Phoenix notices the sun above her, she talks to it: "'Sun so high!' she cried, leaning back and looking, while the thick tears went over her eyes." This passage relates her tears to the phoenix bird's tears, and shows her effort to make her grandson temporarily immune from death. This whole story is an extended metaphor between the mythical Phoenix bird and Phoenix Jackson.

Personally I found learning about this bird to be interesting because a friend of mine just had a phoenix tattooed on her back. I am not a fan of tattoos in the first place and found a tattoo of a random bird to be quite pointless, but now that I have a background of this myth, it is kind of neat to think about now.

Escape

I believe the theme of "Eveline" is that of escape and the values of family in Ireland. The majority of the story is Eveline's contemplation on whether or not to escape the burden of her life in Ireland. I believe that any selfish person would take this route in Eveline's situation. It is clear that she works as hard as she can to keep her family as normal as possible even with an old, cruel father. Anyone with a brain would tell her to leave this situation because she deserves so much more. Personally, I think she would've taken Frank's hand and ran to to boat if it weren't for the importance of family in a small traditional country like hers.

Eveline knew that she could live without her crazy father and her nomad of a brother, but I think it was the younger children and the promise to her mother that held her back. This is a situation where staying home was the hardest and the best decision at the same time for her. This ending shows so much character of Eveline. She took a great sacrifice. Instead of cruising on a boat to a land of promise and paradise, she chose to support her family instead of abandoning them and chose the life of her mother.

Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!

In the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, quilts are a prominent symbol. I feel that people don't see the value in handmade quilts anymore. An example of this is Dee in this story. She doesn't understand the quality of these quilts and the time it makes to create them. In this story, the two quilts wanted by Dee are made of the clothes of their grandmother. She wanted them because she liked their appearance and wanted to hang them in her house. I feel that this is the outlook of people in this generation. 30 years from now, we will not have any precious antiques that have great meaning behind them, like these quilts. In today's world, it is very rare to find teens who know how to quilt or even use a sewing machine. In earlier generations, all women knew how to quilt and sew. With new technology and women getting jobs outside of the home, I feel that these meaningful kinds of things will be lost.

Hunters in the Snow

I found this story to be actually very interesting. I want to focus on the character Tub. First of all, I found it very humorous to foreshadow the appearance of Tub with his name. I feel that Tub is definitely the most sensitive of the group. He is self conscious of his weight and in complete denial of his gluttony. He is terrified by the fact that Kenny shot a poor innocent dog. He is the most emotional character of the story. I believe he represents the feelings and emotions of humans in general. He shows his caring side when it comes to the dog, but also shows how emotions can take over humans. This occurs when he shoots Kenny! It is important that Wolff shows how both types of emotions can occur in people.

Bartleby the Scrivener

Question 2.

I think that Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut are introduced to the reader before Bartleby because they show the reader what normal, every day scriveners are like. The lawyer tells of how much they work and what kind of workers they are. Since Turkey and Nippers can only focus on their work for one portion of the day, this makes Bartleby's ability to work all day a rare one. By introducing these less productive (regular) workers first, it makes Bartleby look like an extreme over-achiever. If the lawyer were to introduce Bartleby first, it would make him look like the normal, average, every day worker and the others would look like under-achievers. Also, I like that the lawyer introduces them first because it gave time to develop picture of the lawyer's office in my head. This way I pictured the office early in the story and could actually mentally see the changes made by Bartleby's arrival.

Every Day Use

Question 4.

I believe that the mother's refusal to let Dee have the quilts indicated a permanent change in her. The mother had always been so giving to her daughters. Personally, I think that she was one of those mothers who will do anything for their children. Well, until this moment. It isn't that the mother changed in her giving ways, she was just standing up for herself and Maggie. Dee (Wangaro) moved away from her family and was practically embarrasses by their existence. She even tells her mother that she will come back for holidays, but she won't even think of bringing friends. I am glad that the mother finally stood up for herself because Dee was ashamed of her family, but wanted the best of everything from them. This is completely wrong.

Interpreter of Maladies

" When he finished writing his address Mr. Kapasi handed her the paper, but as soon as he did so he worried that he had with either misspelled his name, or accidentally reversed the numbers of his postal code."(pg.157)

Personally, I think that this piece of paper that Mr. Kapasi wrote his address on is a main symbol in this story. It gives Mr. Kapasi so much hope and joy. He was so concerned that he wrote the wrong address down and that he might not ever talk to Mrs. Das again. He even goes as far to say that just the thought of her going back to the United States and being so far away from him made him want to embrace her in an instent. To me, this paper represented infatuation and the worthlessness of it. Mrs. Das just shoves the paper in her purse with not much care. Then, after she tells Mr. Kapasi her secret she realizes how her life must change and the true love that she must have for her children. At the end of the story, she is so concerned with her child that she passed by like a stranger a few hours before that she doesn't even notice "the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it flutter away in the wind." I think by finally letting her secret out, she also let go of the infatuations in her life and finally realized the importance of her family.

A Rose for Emily

4. Contrast the order of events as they happen in the story with the order in which they are told. How does this plotting create interest and suspense?

- This story starts out by putting the scene of Emily's funeral at the beginning of the story. It also starts with the description of the house that Emily lived in. The details from these two scenes urge the reader to find out how everything led up to this. The author creates suspense by putting the ending scenes at the beginning of the short story. After these ending scenes, the story goes back into time about 10 or so years to when Miss Emily lost her father. From here on out, the story is in chronological order until the reasoning for her death is explained.

If Faulkner were to have started the story with the death of Emily's father, I think it would have been less interesting to read and harder to follow. It would have just seemed like another boring story about an old woman's death. Also, by writing the story this way, Faulkner kind of made it into a mystery story with all of the nasty smells and by the way that nobody ever saw anyone really enter or leave the house.

How I Met My Husband

I was very entertained by this short story. It kept me interested and found it to be very cute (probably because I am a teenage girl). Anyways, I believe it is my favorite because of the themes it carries in the closing pages. The themes presented are when one door closes, another opens, everything happens for a reason and what it meant to be will always find a way. Even though these are trite sayings, I find truth in them especially in this story. If Edie wasn't so obsessed over receiving the letter from Chris, she would have never met the mailman. This shows how in the end, no matter what obstacles are placed in ones way, everything is placed in one's life for a reason. Alice had to experience people like Alice Kelling calling her a "filthy little rag," but in the end it all happened for a reason. What was meant to be, happened in the end. It took all of the time, pain, and events for Edie to find her true husband and finally be happy.

How I Met My Husband

I feel that How I Met My Husband is a very well-written story. It is my personal favorite out of the three stories in the Plot and Structure unit. My favorite quality in this story is the use of situational irony. I had a feeling in the beginning of the story that the pilot was going to be a main character and probably the "husband" mentioned in the title. I believe that everyone initially believes this. The author cleverly comes up with a way to twist the story so that outcome is very different from what the reader assumes. In this story, the "husband" referred to in the title does not appear until the last couple of paragraphs.

Also, I believe that Munro incorporates the aspect of suspense into this story perfectly. This story is so suspenseful that as I was reading it, I was tempted to skip paragraphs just to get to the dialogue. I found that I was doing this most during the encounters of Edie and Chris. This author definitely sparked my curiosity throughout the story. I believe that suspense and the craving to read more are very important qualities for authors to use because they keep the reader interested and focused.